Kalshi Partners with CNN to Power Real-Time Prediction Data—Here’s Why It Matters
CNN just plugged into the prediction markets. Kalshi—the regulated platform where you bet on real-world outcomes—now feeds its real-time prediction data directly to the news giant. Think of it as a live sentiment feed for everything from elections to economic reports, bypassing traditional polls and punditry.
What This Means for News
Forget waiting for weekly polling aggregates. CNN can now display a constantly updating probability on-screen during major events. It turns news from a recap into a live forecast. The partnership injects a dose of crowd-sourced foresight—or collective speculation, depending on your view—straight into the mainstream media bloodstream.
The Data Pipeline
Kalshi's markets aggregate thousands of trades into a single probability. That number, representing the crowd's 'bet' on an outcome, flows to CNN. It's raw, unfiltered market intelligence on public sentiment—arguably more honest than any carefully worded analyst report or political spin.
A New Lens on Reality
This move legitimizes prediction markets as a serious information tool. It's not about gambling; it's about harnessing decentralized wisdom. When money's on the line, people tend to do their homework—creating a data set that's notoriously hard to manipulate. It makes traditional forecasting look like gazing into a cloudy crystal ball by comparison.
The Cynical Take
Let's be real: Wall Street has paid millions for less accurate forecasts for decades. Now, a platform where anyone can trade offers a sharper signal, for free, on the evening news. It's a quiet indictment of the entire financial advisory complex.
The bottom line? The future is becoming a tradable asset, and CNN just got a direct feed. Whether this makes news more informed or just turns every headline into a betting slip remains to be seen. But one thing's clear: the line between information and speculation just got a whole lot blurrier.
Kalshi says it hopes to provide accurate, real-time data to reporters and audiences
CNN noted that its chief data analyst, Harry Enten, will manage and implement the integration of Kalshi data across programming, and a new Kalshi-powered ticker will be used throughout segments with inputs from the platform.
Kalshi also asserted that the goal of the partnership is to provide audiences with accurate, real-time signals on emerging market trends. The platform has already established itself as a trusted source for journalists, political figures, and both Wall Street and Main Street. Quite recently, it accurately predicted the NYC Mayoral race only eight minutes after the polls closed.
Kalshi’s CEO, Tarek Mansour, also affirmed that prediction markets offer a fresh perspective on public sentiment. As a result, users are seeking information that is communicated through price changes rather than speculation, he said, adding that his platform is transitioning from debate and opinion to market-based accuracy.
Kalshi’s weekly volumes have surpassed $1 billion
The platform posted $4.54 billion in trading activity in November, as opposed to $4.49 billion in October, according to Token Terminal data. Its weekly volume also ROSE above $1 billion, reflecting a more than 1,000% increase since 2024.
Its nearest competitor, Polymarket, logged $3.76 billion in November after a total of $3 billion in October. Kalshi also secured $1 billion of Series E funding from Paradigm, along with funding from Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and ARK Invest, which helped lift its valuation beyond the $5 billion mark it set in October.
However, the prediction platform is still dealing with a nationwide class action lawsuit. The company was accused of acting as an unlicensed sportsbook and exaggerating advantages over traditional betting markets, in violation of Massachusetts state gambling laws.
The partnership is also at a juncture when the regulation of prediction markets in the US remains a highly contested landscape. Several event-contract platforms regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have struggled with whether markets linked to political results, sports results, or cultural events represent financial instruments or unlicensed gambling products.
In recent years, the agency has sought to prohibit or limit the election-related contracts of several platforms, maintaining that these types of markets could erode public confidence or be manipulated. Kalshi itself has previously faced scrutiny over political contracts, mirroring the broader uncertainty faced by an industry that continues to grow at a speed far beyond regulators’ ability to draw clear lines.
The state is seeking monetary damages, civil fines, and a court order banning Kalshi from placing sports wagers without the appropriate licensing. It alleges the company handled more than $1 billion in sports bets in 3.4 million wagers from January through June 2025.
Sports contracts have constituted 70-75% of Kalshi’s activity during the same period, well beyond the levels seen at licensed operators DraftKings and FanDuel. However, the company has shown no signs of wrongdoing.
At the same time, Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital is reportedly in talks with Polymarket and Kalshi to serve as a liquidity provider; on-chain betting on real-world deals is gaining momentum among both retail traders and Wall Street.
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